


Seedlings

by AkaiMirage



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Constructive Criticism Welcome, Gen, Pre-Naruto Canon Era
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-19
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-14 18:28:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29546562
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AkaiMirage/pseuds/AkaiMirage
Summary: During the Hyuga scandal, Hiruzen's having a bad day.His body on other hand, not quite as much.—Despite tag, main character is not Danzo. He is part of it, though.
Kudos: 1





	Seedlings

Nausea hit him almost immediately upon waking up, and he shut his eyes as he swallowed down the bile that threatened to rise.

Not giving in to the almost overwhelming urge to throw his guts up, Hiruzen swung his legs over the bed's frame,

and as the soles of his feet hit the cool surface of wooden floor, one glance around the room was enough to tell him that something was wrong.

Horribly so, in fact.

While Hiruzen was busy trying to understand what had happened to him, the body addressed as the Sandaime was sitting in the hokage's comfortable chair, pretending to listen to a trio that apparently were supposed to be his advisors.

“No.”

The room was silent. Finally. He had no idea of why he had been shoved into the body of this old geezer, and while he probably should (and later on _would_ ) resent that fact, for now all he wanted was a moment of peace.

If things had been as they should, he would probably be meeting up with his team by now.

Instead of which, he had to listen to these idiots who apparently wanted to sweep the Hyuga scandal under the rug, to 'preserve the peace', or whatever they called it.

Troublesome, didn't quite cut it.

He supposed he could see the merit in using the clan head's twin as a body double.

They were identical, and Kumo would have no easier time distinguishing between the two men in question than what _he_ had.

However, he still had his principles. Therefore...

“No, we're not going to do that.”

And cue was the excited objections once the people swarming "his" office as a particular brand of unwelcome fungi realized he wouldn't listen to 'reason'.

“Explain it to me then, if you would,” he started slowly, as though he was speaking to a small child, “who is wearing the hat?”

As that wasn't a question that needed to be answered, and he had only voiced it in order to annoy the bandaged man that seemed to be making demands he had no business in giving, he nodded sagely.

He didn't pay too much attention to politics in class, it had bored him out of his skull, but he realized fairly quickly what this was about.

“As hokage, it is I who make the decision, at the end of the day, and I say that we will not hand over Hizashi-san's body to Kumo.”

The word of the hokage is the law, so why were they questioning his authority? It's not as though they knew he was a man-child, quite _literally_.

“It is preposterous that we'd comply with Kumo's demands, when we all know they attempted to steal the byakugan.”

There. That should be reasonable enough. What's the worst that could happen, really?

When the office finally cleared off and he was left with only a pair of anbu hiding in the corners, he leaned back in the _very_ comfortable chair,

and tested the wheels, spinning the chair around twice for good measure.

 _Even if the real hokage gets his body back, I'm keeping the chair_ , he grinned to himself, the chair spinning around even faster.

The anbu guards pointedly kept their gazes elsewhere as their leader hailed as God of Shinobi amused himself with his newfound 'merry-go-round'.

Meanwhile, at the training grounds, two restless genin and one annoyed jônin instructor waited for their third team-mate to show up.

It wasn't like him to be late, no matter the persistent rumors of laziness regarding his clan, and while this could be a first sign of teenage rebellion, it was still a cause for concern.

“Hey, sensei,” the youngest member said, somewhat hesitant, “What if Kasuga-han* doesn't show?”

The jônin didn't have time to address her anxiety before the boy they knew as Kasuga had, at long last, arrived.

They could do little else but stare, as their third teammate seemed listless and almost loopy.

Hiruzen moaned, still disoriented and not used to the disrespect he'd been shown by the family of the body he was currently in possession of.

What had he done to deserve this, he wondered as he was lying spreadeagled on the ground, feeling like the entire world was out to get him, not caring in the slightest how ridiculous or unlikely that theory was.

* * *

A few days later saw a man seemingly on edge seeking audience with the Sandaime. 

“Well?”, he asked while lightening his pipe.

Waking up as a heavy smoker sure was a hassle, but this body seemed used to it, so he saw no reason to complain.

And he would make sure to _never_ mention it to his mother if he managed to get his old body back again. No need to tempt fate.

The messenger seemed hesitant. His brows rose as he waited for the answer. _This had better be good_.

“The raikage has decided that, with Leaf's unwillingness to hand over the 'murderer' of the shinobigashira, Kumogakure is officially at war with Konohagakure.”

The still smoking pipe fell into his lap, forgotten.

 _This was going to be troublesome, wasn't it_ , he mourned internally.

Now, this was not even remotely what he'd gotten up in the morning for.

He'd thought he'd done a good job supervising the village, all things considered, and was planning on treating himself to a bowl of ramen to celebrate the fact the village was still in one piece.

Of course somebody, namely an old man with too much time on his hands and clearly more pride than brains, had to muck it up.

 _This is not my fault, is it?_ He thought, even as that one-eyed advisor of his gave him the stink eye, making it abundantly clear who _he_ blamed.

If there has been any room for confusion before.

 _Oh, give me a break please, and let's see how well_ **_you_ ** _would've done at twelve!_

He had been planning on visiting the hot springs this weekend, but with this crisis, that was an idea nipped in the bud.

Everything was the raikage's fault.

The village would probably be run over, pilfered and burned to the ground, women and children taken hostage and the men rounded up and executed.

As for himself... there was no chance of him ever seeing those hot springs was there?

 _Raikage_ , he seethed, as a strong sensation of killing intent pulsated from him in waves, _you will rue the day you crossed_ ** _me_** _._

_Prepare to die, you scum!_

Shimura Danzo wasn't happy about the situation at hand, not at all, but the look on his old friend's face was indeed promising.

Certainly, he couldn't recall witnessing Hiruzen with such a chagrined expression, one that bordered on bloodlust.

Not since the days of the second shinobi world war, and _those days_ were long gone.

While personally he would've preferred if they had settled things with giving up the Hyuga twin — that was what the branch house was _for_ , he supposed that this would have to do.

He had never liked nor trusted Kumo, and it was plain to see this had been their intention all along, those conniving, backstabbing _traitors!_

Ahem, back to the point, Danzo did not like Kumogakure, and for the first time in a long while, he felt comfortable having his friend behind the desk that had belonged to the Nidaime and the Shodaime before him.

After all, he only wanted what was best for his Konohagakure, the village that would be touchable by no man, and he figured that if Hiruzen didn't shape up, he could always snatch the hat for himself given the opportunity.

It would be in Konoha's best interest, after all.

**Author's Note:**

> *han is a suffix that has the same meaning as _san_. Just a regional/dialect difference.  
> —  
> I'm not sure if this "body-snatcher" will be having any more adventures in the Naruto fandom, but regardless, the body-snatcher is not a SI or Isekai of any kind (his debut is during the shippuuden).  
> He's fairly young, around 12 for when Hinata was kidnapped if my calculations are correct, so you have to forgive him his impulsiveness. ^^  
> As for this possible war brewing due to Nara's stupidity/idealism.... it'll be left to interpretation. I certainly have no intention of writing about it.
> 
> Danzo... I do not like that guy, but I also do not enjoy bashing fics nor do I write them so I wanted to write his perspective as I could imagine him do, without having to delve too far into his icky mind.  
> Nobody is the villain from their vantage point, after all. Danzo prolly has no idea he's a sleaze-bucket. :p


End file.
